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cypripedium

[sip-ruh-pee-dee-uh m]
noun
  1. any orchid of the genus Cypripedium, comprising the lady's-slippers.
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Origin of cypripedium

1765–75; < New Latin, equivalent to Latin Cypri(a) Venus + -pedi- -ped + -um neuter ending
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for cypripedium

Historical Examples

  • Cypripedium acaule, moccasin-flower; ladies'-slipper; Venus's-slipper, 205.

    My Studio Neighbors

    William Hamilton Gibson

  • Presently he observed a flower—a Cypripedium; the shape could not be mistaken.

    The Woodlands Orchids

    Frederick Boyle

  • This Cypripedium of ours will ripen its seed in about twelve months, more or less.

    About Orchids

    Frederick Boyle

  • The botanical name of the flower is Cypripedium, taken from Greek words meaning the shoe of Venus.

  • In Cypripedium, while the ordinary stamen of the outer row is deficient, two of the inner series are present.

    Vegetable Teratology

    Maxwell T. Masters

British Dictionary definitions for cypripedium

cypripedium

noun
  1. any orchid of the genus Cypripedium, having large flowers with an inflated pouchlike lipSee also lady's-slipper
  2. any cultivated tropical orchid of the genus Paphiopedilum, having yellow, green, or brownish-purple waxy flowers
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Word Origin

C18: from New Latin, from Latin Cypria the Cyprian, that is, Venus + pēs foot (that is, Venus' slipper)
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012